At the moment I only have access to a midi disk recorder which I should be able to plugin the soundboard. Does this have a good sound quality?_________________Heavy Metal! Just my way
Heavy Metal! Just my devil

Well minidiscs are quite obsolete in my opinion. You really should consider of getting Edirol R-09 that records on SD memorycards (cards can be up to 8 gigabytes or more). I've recorded from soundboard few times with it and got great results.

Minidiscs are not the latest fad but they still do a good job so if he has a good set up why not using it?
I have no advice for mics etc, sorry._________________A nobody in a world of somebodies.
A little debil ainīt enough.
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At the moment I only have access to a midi disk recorder which I should be able to plugin the soundboard. Does this have a good sound quality?

Should work well if the guy at the board did a good job. The only thing you have to take care of is that you get all signals in the output of the board you use. And keep in mind most small venues doesnīt put mics on all part of the drums so an additional mic capturing the whole audience/ room could be usefull.

Thanks for the info.
I don't think I will be able to get other equipment (like mics) on such a short notice so I will stick to the minidisk._________________Heavy Metal! Just my way
Heavy Metal! Just my devil

It depends all on how the gig is setup, what you have access to, and where you're stood.

If there is no issue with you plugging into the desk, and the majority of the instruments (main drum parts, vocals, guitars, bass) go through the soundboard, then that will certainly be your best option. If it's a smaller gig where everything isn't mic'd through the desk, I'd recommend you make sure your recorder can deal with high volume levels, and find a good place at the front by the stage where you can hear everything clearly.

Use a laptop (if you are able to get a hold of one) and plug directly into the SB. And yes, don't use MP3. Also, you can film the gig and also plug the cam audio directly into the SB when filming and get killer audio from that. Do an audio rip from the recording. Alot of times guitars/bass will run through DI and when we play the drums are usually full micd up._________________Glorious Dawn Upon The Plateau Of Might Now Burns!!

Use a laptop (if you are able to get a hold of one) and plug directly into the SB. And yes, don't use MP3. Also, you can film the gig and also plug the cam audio directly into the SB when filming and get killer audio from that. Do an audio rip from the recording. Alot of times guitars/bass will run through DI and when we play the drums are usually full micd up.

Well I have 2 laptops available.
Do I need special programs or connections the plugin and record?_________________Heavy Metal! Just my way
Heavy Metal! Just my devil

Use a laptop (if you are able to get a hold of one) and plug directly into the SB. And yes, don't use MP3. Also, you can film the gig and also plug the cam audio directly into the SB when filming and get killer audio from that. Do an audio rip from the recording. Alot of times guitars/bass will run through DI and when we play the drums are usually full micd up.

Well I have 2 laptops available.
Do I need special programs or connections the plugin and record?

If you have a good sound card (and I'd imagine you can rent one from a music shop as well) you should be able to record up to 8 separate tracks from the sound board simultaneously, which will enable you to basically rework the whole mix afterwards. There is quite a variaty of multitracker software that you can choose from. If you're not into such high-tech mumbo-jumbo just pic up whatever mics you have and try to capture the show from in front of the mixing table, where the sound is usually optimal for the venue.

Most of the info so far in this thread is complete rubbish. Easily the best way to capture small live gigs is a stereo mic above/at desk (assuming that the desk is centered towards the rear of the room), for a start you get to hear how rowdy the crowd is. Majority of desk recordings turn out pus weak because only the kick, snare & vocals are at a high level, maybe bass and gats are reinforcements at best but usually much too quiet to be useful. DIed guitars are just wrong!! Its not until you have larger capacity gigs where everything is mixed properly that desk feeds become useful, and even then a live mix doesn't always translate into recording. If you don't have access to decent mics that can handle loud SPLs your best bet is probably a video stereo mic. Just get as much distance as possible between it and stage.

If you are gonna get a feed from the desk, go and hit up the sound guy BEFORE gig starts as well. As a sound engineer myself, one thing I fuckin hate is kunts coming up just as you're setting stage or checking levels for next band and wanting a feed right then. If you approach them early there is much higher chance of being able to send a separate auxiliary feed mixed for you recording that'll be a much more suitable mix anyway

Record with video, convert to audio... Usually sounds good. Then you can mix it to however you would like. I guess it depends on what kind of video camera you use though... Nuclear Desecration did this for the Nuclear Demons Attack live 7", and it come out pretty horrible sounding in a cool way. People liked it, I didnt think anyone was going to like this._________________

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why do people like this little faggot? he is some teenage punk that jumped on the goatfago trend.

Record with video, convert to audio... Usually sounds good. Then you can mix it to however you would like. I guess it depends on what kind of video camera you use though... Nuclear Desecration did this for the Nuclear Demons Attack live 7", and it come out pretty horrible sounding in a cool way. People liked it, I didnt think anyone was going to like this.

You can just as well just use a regular cassette recorder to record than this way Result should be more or less the same.

My experience is that the sound guys are usually pissed when asking them to record the show through the soundboard. Even when you bring your own recording device and all that you ask for is pluggin in.